Sagging and sloping floors in a raised New Orleans home

Sagging, sloping, bouncy: they are different symptoms

Sloping or tilted

The floor is flat but leans, so a ball rolls steadily toward one wall or corner. The whole area has moved relative to the rest of the house.

Sagging or dipped

The floor curves down between its supports, so there is a low spot or a belly in the middle of a room or hallway.

Bouncy or soft

The floor flexes or gives when you walk across it, even if it looks level.

These can overlap, and different causes can produce the same look. That is why we describe the symptom first and leave the cause to someone who can inspect the house in person.

Why floors move in a raised home

Several quite different things can show up as the same sloping or sagging floor:

• Support that has settled. Many New Orleans soils are soft, compressible and rich in organic material, and parts of the city have been measured sinking at different rates. A satellite study of 2002 to 2005 found an average near 0.2 inch per year, with some areas at about 0.8 inch (20 mm) per year or more. Where the ground moves unevenly, a house that is not on deep foundations can settle unevenly too. Piers are one place that can show up.
• Wood that has decayed. Serious decay generally needs wood that stays well above normal dry moisture levels. Wood near the ground, on masonry piers, in poorly drained areas, or in crawl spaces without moisture control is at higher risk. Beams, sills and joists can lose strength long before they look bad from above.
• Termite damage. Formosan and native termites can hollow out structural wood from inside, and a clean-looking surface does not rule it out. Termite treatment is a separate licensed trade from structural repair.
• Framing that was undersized, cut, or altered. Older floors can have joists that were never generous, and later work can remove walls or posts or cut into framing. We give no span or notch numbers here because we have not been able to source them for this guide.
• Moisture from a leak or a wet crawl space that damages wood over time or swells and warps finish flooring.
• Finish-floor effects. Cupped or buckled hardwood and humidity changes can look like a structural problem without being one.

Because signs overlap, a visual check cannot reliably tell rot, termites and settlement apart. Termite and rot inspection answers a different question than a structural assessment: whether there is active infestation or decay and where, versus whether the framing and supports are sound and what repair they need.

What each pattern can raise a question about

Use this to decide what to write down and whom to ask. These are questions, not conclusions.

Keep a simple log: is it changing?

A dated record shows whether a floor is stable, changing slowly, or changing fast, and it gives any inspector a history.

A single reading says little. Do this from inside the house. A printable version of this log is available if you would rather fill it in on paper.

1. Sketch the room or the house plan on paper.
2. Pick 6 to 10 fixed spots, such as corners, the middle of the room and doorways, and number them on the sketch. Mark each with painter’s tape.
3. At each spot, record the date and what you see: how a straightedge or level sits, and how large any gap is under it. Use a ruler or tape measure in the photo.
4. Take a photo from the same place each time, with the tape measure in frame.
5. Add notes: the weather, whether doors stick more or less, new cracks, odors, or new gaps at baseboards.
6. Repeat monthly, and again after heavy rain or a long dry spell.

We deliberately give no pass or fail number. Whether a particular slope matters depends on the house, its age, and whether it is changing, which is a question for someone who can see it.

When to ask a professional promptly

This is not an engineering rule. These are reasons not to wait for the next monthly reading before you ask for a professional opinion:

• The floor changed over days, or after a storm, flood, vehicle impact, or digging nearby.
• A spot feels spongy or gives underfoot.
• You can see a visibly dipped beam, a leaning post, or a jack that has been added to hold something up.
• New cracks appear together with doors that suddenly jam or no longer close.

What repair paths can look like

We describe the categories, not a recipe, and we do not recommend homeowners do structural work themselves.

• Work at the support level, such as adding or replacing piers and leveling the structure.
• Work on wood members, such as repairing or replacing beams, sills or joists.
• Moisture and pest control, which often has to be addressed for any structural repair to last.
• An engineer’s assessment where the condition is complex or significant.

Structural changes to a foundation or beams generally require a City permit; see structural repair permits in New Orleans. Lifting or leveling can also crack plaster, drywall and tile, so photograph interior finishes first.

Who to ask, and how to check them

In Louisiana, termite treatment is licensed through the Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s Structural Pest Control program, while structural work follows building-permit and contractor-licensing rules. How to check a contractor’s license is covered in structural repair permits.